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Monday, April 12, 2010

My First Quilt Ever

Today I'd like to introduce a little series I've been planning for quite some time, called -- of course you know by now -- "1st Quilt Ever." I've had readers here and there contact me saying they'd like to learn how to make a quilt, or comment saying they really want to do it but are nervous about getting started. But when Susan from Darling Petunia (whose blog I have been following for quite some time) contacted me saying SHE wanted to make HER "1st Quilt Ever" and chronicle her journey on her blog, I knew this series just HAD to happen! So, we are working together -- me as the "expert" and Susan as the "guinea pig" (I mean "student!") -- to show you that YOU really CAN do this!!

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To start off, I would like you show you MY First Quilt Ever!

First, a little history: When I was little we lived near the Morey Boogie factory. (Anyone remember the Morey Boogie clothing line??) We could go to the outlet at the factory and purchase fabric scraps by the pound. One afternoon, when I was about 10 years old, my mom dragged all us kids to the outlet to pick up a bunch of scraps so she could make some FABULOUS clothes for her sister's baby boy. Looking at all those scraps just about made my eyes pop out of my head! I immediately knew I NEEDED some of those scraps for some sewing projects, and with Mom's permission started picking out some fabrics. I only had a few pieces -- but then the clerk at the register picked up a bag and started STUFFING it full of fabric for me! (...and the fabric obsession was ALL DOWNHILL from there!)

I decided to make myself a quilt using some of my haul. I picked some of my fluorescent-colored scraps, then proceeded to start digging through my mom's enormous storage can filled with scraps leftover from her multiple sewing projects. (The can was big enough to hold 50 lbs of flour -- there were a lot of scraps in there!) Once I had made my fabric selections, I cut them into squares and started laying out a design for my quilt.

Mom says she tried to give me a little input here and a little advice there, but that I just wouldn't have it -- I had my idea and my design and was going to make it happen my way. I guess I still do things that way! :o)

The inner border and center square are fabric from my factory stash. The southwestern-style bandana squares were leftovers from a project we did with my grandma at the family cabin the previous summer. The blue border and matching backing came from some yard sale fabric my mom had picked up. The rest were from Mom's scrap barrel.

When it came time to tie my quilt, I went through Mom's oodles of yarn and picked out a pinky-orange yarn to match my Morey Boogie border.